Dipsea: Women’s time record-holder inducted into Hall of Fame

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Former San Anselmo resident Peggy Smyth, who set the women’s fastest time record at the 1988 Dipsea, is the 33rd and latest Dipsea Hall of Fame inductee. She was announced as the inductee at Friday’s Dipsea Hall of Fame and Scholarship dinner in Mill Valley. (GENE COHN PHOTO)

The Dipsea Race was first contested in 1905, but, under rules governing the sport in the United States, women were not accepted as official entrants until 1971. So the first woman that year, Fran Conley, fifth place overall, became the woman’s record-holder. Conley’s record was promptly lowered the next year, then again in 1973, ’74, 1980 and ’84 before Peggy Smyth obliterated the standard by a massive 51 seconds in 1988.

In the 30 years since, Smyth’s remarkable 55:47 has stood, untouched, and all but unapproached. For example, the fastest women’s time last year — over an albeit longer course — was 59:55. For that great run, along with winning three other Women’s Best Time trophies, Smyth was inducted into the Dipsea Race Hall of Fame, as its 33rd member, at a dinner in Mill Valley on Friday.

Smyth grew up in Fremont, attending Washington High, along with Hall of Fame pitcher Dennis Eckersley. She did no prep sports; her passion was horseback riding. She only began running in order to compete in Ride and Tie races, in which teams of two alternately ride a horse and run. Smyth discovered she was gifted. At Santa Rosa Junior College she set school records at 800, 1,500 and 3,000 meters and placed third in the California JC cross country championship. She also won several national Ride and Tie titles and completed the prestigious Tevis Cup, a 100-mile horseback race over the Sierra Nevada mountains.

In 1980, Smyth met Bill Ranney, a Dipsea runner since the 1940s. They moved in together in San Anselmo, and Ranney became her coach.

In 1983, Smyth won the Napa Valley Marathon, missing the course record by a single second. That qualified her for the first United States Olympic Marathon trials in 1984 and Smyth ran that historic race in Olympia, Washington. She also ran in the second trials, in Pittsburgh. Her father Russ drove to both races to watch her.

Smyth made her Dipsea debut in 1984, age 32. Her time of 58 minutes, 11 seconds was third place overall, behind Patricia English and winner Sal Vasquez, the special guest presenter at Friday’s ceremony. In ’85, Smyth improved to 57:47 but could not hold off Vasquez and wound up second.

The following year, 1986, Smyth won her second time trophy with a 57:25. She finished fourth, behind winner Gail Scott, Eve Pell and Vasquez. Ranney died of a heart attack in 1986 and Smyth skipped the 1987 Dipsea.

The 1988 Dipsea was the closest in decades, with the first four runners, all women, on the final straightaway at the same time. It also featured one of the greatest head-to-head battles ever. Smyth and English, a fellow San Anselman, who set the race record at 56:38 in 1984, were in the same handicap group, but Smyth hadn’t noticed her rival at the start line.

When Smyth heard someone right behind her on the Dipsea steps, she said “Way to go, Debi,” assuming it was top contender Debi Waldear. The reply was, “I’m not Debi, I’m Patricia.” So began a step-for-step duel over the entire seven-plus hilly, treacherously miles, the two never more than a few strides apart. They were so close in Steep Ravine they inadvertently touched. Smyth, the faster sprinter, led on Highway 1. That is where she first saw a runner ahead, Kay Willoughby.

“We just ran out of room to catch Kay” Smyth says. “Another 50 or so yards and I would have won and Pat would have been second.” But it was Willoughby, 52, who prevailed, by seven seconds. Smyth crossed next, two seconds ahead of English, with Pell close behind. Waldear took fifth, a unique top-five sweep for women.

“Peggy was such a talented, versatile, dedicated and consistent runner, always gracious, always sweet,” English said. “When she was in a race, I knew I had to give it my all. She always brought out the best in me.”

Smyth earned her fourth time trophy in 1989 with a 57:19. That gave Smyth three of the then ten fastest women’s times ever. But she finished fifth, Pell winning.

The following year, Smyth ran one last Dipsea, a disappointing 17th but still recording the day’s second fastest woman’s time. Burnt out — “I was tired of hurting” — she stopped racing, switching to biking and her beloved horseback riding.

It was then off to the Napa Valley, where Smyth worked 19 years as a massage therapist. Now she lives on two rural acres, with chickens and a mule, near Auburn and works as an esthetician. A seven-year marriage to Dal Burns, previously a non-runner who she trained to run a fast half marathon, ended with his death from cancer in 2013.

“I’m starting to jog again,” Smyth said. “I’d like to do a trail race and be competitive in my age group.” She will always have that incomparable Dipsea day in 1988.